REDEEM RIVKY

"After a while, the abuse became a cycle and I knew my role. He would beat me or rape me or punish me. I played my part. I had to tell Yoily I would be more respectful. Then he would stop. Until the next time."

Yoel publicly summoned Rivky to the Beit Din, inviting even the press. He stated that he would show up on August 6th at 12pm to issue Rivky an unconditional Get. Yoel was informed that Rivky would be there. He was aware of the correct address. The Beit Din went into action and made all necessary arrangements to make sure that the Sofer, Eidim and Dayanim were present. Two of the three dayanim (Rabbi Goodman and Rabbi Abales) were present while Rabbi Taub is sitting Shiva for his mother in Israel and therefore could not come. A different Dayan from the same Beit Din was there in his place.

Yoel would know all of this, but Yoel never showed up. He lied to everyone!

Demand that Rivky be allowed her freedom!

“Given that I am about to lose my home and find myself and my children helpless and practically destitute, I can no longer withhold from this court the utter dreadfulness of my situation.”

So begins a recent court document filed by Rivky Stein, a 24-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman, mother of two small children, survivor of years of humiliation, deprivation and domestic violence and an Agunah; a woman held captive to her husband Yoel (Yoily)Weiss through the bonds of religious marriage.

Rivky lives in a cramped basement apartment in Boro Park, Brooklyn from which she is being evicted as the result of threats made by Yoel Weiss against her landlord. She makes a pitiful salary working two part-time jobs. Prevented from attending college, she has few marketable skills. A former foster child – removed from her parents’ home by the state -- she is practically alone in the world.

Her tiny basement apartment was the first safe haven she had in the course of her marriage to Yoel Weiss, a marriage where rape, beatings and starvation were served as casually as meals. In a daring escape from her husband two years earlier, her former foster parents took her in, allowing her to live, rent-free.

Now, her safety has been compromised. Threatening notices and locks appeared overnight, barring her from full access to her abode. Strange men entered her apartment without her permission. With nowhere to go, the wellbeing of Rivky and her children is imperiled.

Rivky first found herself caught in the crosshairs of Yoel Weiss’s underworld family as a newly-married vulnerable girl of 18, forced to work in a variety of illegal enterprises run by his family. Yoel Weiss’s uncle is the infamous Sholam Weiss, currently serving a jail term of 845 years for wide-scale insurance fraud. Subjected to around-the-clock surveillance by her husband and her family, Rivky Stein’s marriage was a prison sentence. Her phone and wallet were taken from her on a regular basis. She was isolated socially. Her every move was monitored.

Though Weiss promised his wife that they would obtain the civil marriage license she kept asking for, he never submitted the paperwork to the state. Thus whatever protection Rivky might have as a wife through civil law was taken away from her, as well.

In her marriage, she became the property of Yoel Weiss. Having broken free from his clutches, Rivky is now being branded “crazy” by her controlling husband. For daring to stand up to him and his incessant abuse, he is exacting revenge.

Though Jewish marriage is intended to create a safe haven for the building of a family, a legalistic loophole enables unscrupulous husbands to refuse to grant their wives a Get – a Jewish writ of divorce. Extortion is often a motivating factor for many husbands, but in the case of Rivky Stein, a young woman without any financial resources, the motivation is spite.

Indeed, Yoel Weiss has been overheard saying, “I want to make Rivky suffer.”

Suffering in silence for years, she has begun to tell the horrific story of her unwanted, abusive marriage to Yoel Weiss, refusing to wear the mantle of victim any longer. Rivky knows that there are other women like her, chained to their husbands, shamed to talk about their abuse.

She is ready to fight for her freedom…and for theirs as well.

Despite the horrors she has endured, Rivky Stein is an optimistic, compassionate person. A fervently pious woman, Rivky cannot move on with her life or pursue other relationships until the Get is granted. A good-natured, loving mother, she wants her children to grow up in a healthy and happy home.

Please join Rivky in her fight to be redeemed from her unwanted marriage to Yoel Weiss. Raise your voice and demand that Yoel Weiss give Rivky a Get and that he be prosecuted for the abuse he visited upon her. Read the story of her struggle in the documents provided on this site. Like her Facebook page and share it with friends. Tell her story. Stay connected to learn of events or actions being organized on her behalf. Give generously to the fund her friends have set up for her to aid her during this transitional phase – which will help her secure shelter and food -- so that she and her children will have a chance at a better life.

Please join Rivky in her fight to be redeemed from her unwanted marriage to Yoel Weiss. Raise your voice and demand that Yoel Weiss give Rivky a Get and that he be prosecuted for the abuse visited upon her. Read the story of her struggle in the documents provided on this site. Like her Facebook pageand share it with friends. Tell her story. Stay connected to learn of events or actions being organized on her behalf. Give generously to the fund her friends have set up for her to aid her during this transitional phase, so that she and her children will have a chance at a better life.

If you believe, as Rivky does, that a home must be built on love, loyalty, respect and security, support our cause. By redeeming Rivky you will be joining the worldwide movement to end the enslavement of Jewish women in our lifetime.